Congress’ watchdog arm, the Government Accountability Office, put out a list today of the 13 most urgent issues facing President-elect Barack Obama and the incoming Congress. The list includes such no-brainers as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, oversight of the financial market, and protecting the homeland. But it also includes a few head-scratchers — transitioning to digital television and carrying out the 2010 Census, to name two — that are even more curious when you consider what didn’t make GAO’s cut. Things like securing energy independence, reforming Medicare and Social Security, and providing health care to all Americans. So what gives? Chris…
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The General Services Administration, which provides logistical support for the presidential transition team, turned over the keys to the 120,000 square foot office space it has leased for President-elect Obama’s team today. But GSA is remaining tight lipped about where the space is. A press release issued by GSA just says the office space is somewhere in downtown D.C. Yesterday, Diane Merriett, a GSA spokeswoman, refused to tell yours truly where the office was located, stating that GSA decided to leave it up to the president-elect’s team to release. This FedLine found funny because the new boss is a transparency…
If you’re looking for tickets to President-Elect Barack Obama’s inauguration and parade, you may want to prepare yourself for disappointment. While stopping in various congressional offices today, I noticed one thing: the phones are ringing off the hook. In fact, all of the phone lines were ringing at once for five solid minutes in one representative’s office, and all of the callers had the same question: How do I get tickets? Aides told me tickets aren’t yet available, and some offices have started waiting lists. It’s likely that, due to demand, the majority of the inaugural tickets will be held…
Make sure you check out our latest stories on Barack Obama’s agenda for the federal work force. I just filed a story on some of his personnel and contracting plans, and Gregg Carlstrom has some interesting details on Obama’s plans for the Program Assessment Rating Tool, ethical rules, and other government reform ideas. Keep an eye on www.federaltimes.com for more updates.
All the things we’ve been moaning about for the last eight years, now we have to correct. – A noticeably hoarse John Gage, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a Nov. 5 conference call with reporters. Gage spoke from Chicago, where he and other supporters of President-elect Barack Obama celebrated the Democrats’ Nov. 4 victory.
I’m about to join a conference call with the American Federation of Government Employees to get their thoughts on what an Obama administration will mean for federal workers. But we already know that Obama could make some significant changes in the Defense Department’s National Security Personnel System. Obama in September told unions that he was unhappy with how NSPS was set up, and pledged to alter its regulations or even repeal the controversial program. Obama has not said how he might alter NSPS. There will be roughly 205,000 Defense employees under NSPS by the time Obama takes power, though observers don’t expect…
President-elect Barack Obama won what can only be described as a resounding victory yesterday: More than 62 million popular votes and at least 338 electoral votes. His victory caps off a grueling two-year campaign that overcame the well-funded Clinton machine, a popular Republican opponent and a series of domestic and foreign crises. That was the easy part. Obama now faces the most difficult presidential transition in a century: The economy is stagnating. The country is still fighting two wars. The national debt has ballooned past $10 trillion. The American people do not trust their government to serve the public good.…
Happy Election Day Feds! It is finally here. The day you get to pick your new boss. We here at FedLine cast our ballots this morning and can report turnout is heavy at the polling stations inside the Beltway. This reporter stood in line for 62Â minutes to make her choice, which seemed pretty speedy given the fact that there were 210 people ahead of her when she started. If you’ve headed to the polls today, or are on your way later, we want to hear from you. Did you choose McCain? Obama? A third party candidate? How will your choice…
Earlier today we mentioned Barack Obama’s slight fundraising edge among federal employees in the presidential race; he’s received about 13 percent more from feds than his rival, John McCain. In case you’re wondering how this compares to recent elections: In 2004, George W. Bush received three times as much from federal employees as John Kerry did. Bush hauled in about $249,000 from government employees, compared with Kerry’s $80,000. If feds vote with their wallets, they’re significantly more excited about Obama’s candidacy than they were about Kerry’s.
This has been an astoundingly expensive presidential campaign — more than $1 billion spent since the primaries. How much did federal employees contribute? We decided to take a look at the donor database for both candidates. Barack Obama seems to have the fundraising edge among feds: his donations outpaced John McCain’s by about 13 percent. Defense Department employees contributed nearly half of the total amount donated by feds — not surprising, since Defense is by far the largest federal agency. The Agriculture Department seems to have contributed the least: just $250 for Obama, and nothing for McCain. The agency-by-agency numbers…